Overview
The IB English A Internal Assessment is the Individual Oral (IO) — a recorded oral where you analyse how a global issue is presented through your studied works. It applies to both routes (Literature and Language & Literature) at SL and HL. This guide covers choosing a global issue and extracts, structuring the ten minutes, and the mistakes that cost marks. Always confirm the exact format and criteria against your current *Language A guide*.
What the Individual Oral is
For the IB Diploma Programme, you speak for about ten minutes, followed by teacher questions, on the prompt: *examine the ways in which a global issue of your choice is presented through the content and form of the works you have studied.*
- Literature students analyse two literary works (one originally written in your language, one in translation).
- Language & Literature students analyse one literary work and one non-literary text or body of work.
You bring an extract (typically around 40 lines/an equivalent portion) from each, and your analysis must stay anchored to those extracts while connecting to the works as wholes.
Choosing a strong global issue
For the IB Diploma Programme, a global issue is a real-world topic of wide significance — power, identity, migration, gender, the environment, belief, technology. The best choices are:
- Genuinely global — relevant beyond a single text or country.
- Specific — "the cost of political silence" beats "politics".
- Rooted in both works — you can trace it clearly through the content and the form (authorial choices) of each.
Choosing your extracts
For the IB Diploma Programme, pick extracts that are rich enough to analyse for ten minutes — dense in technique and tied tightly to your global issue. A passage where the writer's choices (imagery, structure, tone, form) actively construct your issue gives you far more to say than a plot-heavy one.
What examiners mark
For the IB Diploma Programme, the IO is marked on four criteria (confirm the exact wording and marks in your guide), broadly:
- Knowledge, understanding and interpretation — of the works and the extracts.
- Analysis and evaluation — of how authorial/textual choices shape meaning.
- Focus and organisation — a coherent, balanced, well-structured line of argument.
- Language — clear, accurate, register-appropriate speech.
A structure that scores
For the IB Diploma Programme, brief introduction naming the global issue and both works → analysis of extract 1 (how content *and* form present the issue) → analysis of extract 2 → connections and contrasts between the two → short conclusion. Keep the two works balanced, and keep returning to the global issue.
Common pitfalls
For the IB Diploma Programme, choosing a vague or purely local issue; summarising plot instead of analysing technique; unbalanced works (one covered far more than the other); drifting from the extracts; and running out of time before the second work. Rehearse to time.
Practising on MarkScheme
Draft your outline early and rehearse against the criteria. Use the free [English A Literature](/ib/courses/english-a-literature-hl) or [Language & Literature](/ib/courses/english-a-lang-lit-hl) lessons to sharpen close analysis, work [English A past papers](/ib/past-papers/english-a-literature-hl) for Paper 1 and 2 technique, and [get an essay marked](/mark) against IB criteria alongside the IO.
Frequently asked questions
This section covers Frequently asked questions — what IB examiners reward most often in past papers and coursework.
How long is the Individual Oral?
About ten minutes of prepared analysis followed by teacher questions. Confirm the exact timing in your current guide, and rehearse to it.
What counts as a global issue?
A real-world topic of broad significance — for example power, identity, migration, or the environment — made specific and traced through both works. See IB English A IA ideas for examples.
Literature or Language & Literature?
The IO exists in both, but Literature uses two literary works while Language & Literature pairs a literary work with a non-literary text. See Language & Literature vs Literature.